Towards the end of the 1950’s, Jean-Pierre Léaud was discovered by François Truffaut, who
had him play the young hero Antoine Doinel in the film 400 Blows, a fictional character created
by Truffaut and used as the director’s alter ego, a persuasive and innocent young man who is
not yet ready to deal with the responsibilities of adult life. It was with this film that Léaud, a
fourteen -year old boy who oozed rebelliousness, made his debut at the Cannes Film Festival.
His spontaneity was representative of the freedom that the French Nouvelle Vague brought to
cinema. Truffaut would subsequently work with him in Antoine et Colette (1962), Baisers Volés
(1968), Domicile Conjugal (1970), and L’Amour en Fuite (1979), films which narrate the life of
Antoine Doinel from dating to marriage, paternity and divorce.
From 1965 onwards, Léaud began his lengthy partnership with Jean-Luc Godard; Masculin Féminin (1966) and La Chinoise (1967) are films which highlighted his commitment and the visionary perspective of his collaboration. Fascinated by the language of cinema, Jean-Pierre Léaud also worked as an assistant director in films Pierrot le fou and Alphaville, as well as in the Truffaut film La Peau Douce.
We can also see Léaud in films by Bernardo Bertolucci (Last Tango in Paris) or in films by Jacques Rivette (Out 1). In 1973’s The Mother and the Whore his eccentric performance, between poetry and petulance, was considered unmatchable, crystalising his talent forever. The film, by Jean Eustache, was emblematic for the generation of its day and received the Grand Prix of the Cannes Festival before becoming a major cult film. Since then, his passionate, clumsy, idealistic, disenchanted or enigmatic characters became a part of the universe of directors such as Aki Kaurismäki, Lucas Belvaux, Philippe Garrel, Bertrand Bonello and even Tsai Ming-Liang.
Leáud has also made several contributions to non French productions such as Pier Paolo Pasolini’s Pigsty, Jerzy Skolimowski’s Le Départ, and works by Brazilian directors such as Os Herdeiros by Carlos Diegues and O Leão das Sete Cabeças, by Glauber Rocha.
Jean-Pierre Léaud is eternally surprising and daring, even when playing the Sun King in the latest Albert Serra film, The Death of Louis XIV.
This year, at the Cannes Festival, Jean-Pierre was graced with the Honorary Palme d’Or, an homage to his career, which is internationally recognised and admired.
A deadly youth, a romantic rebelliousness, the unforgettable face of Jean-Pierre Léaud as he gazes directly into the camera in the last shot of The 400 Blows.